"It's not Quidditch that's popular, it's you! You've never been more interesting and, frankly, you've never been more fanciable." -- Hermione Granger

Harry discovers his newfound popularity, learns that Stan Shunpike has been arrested, and holds a frustratingly massive Quidditch tryout that includes a run-in with Cormac McLaggen. They visit Hagrid and learn that Aragog is dying, Harry confronts Hermione about having confunded McLaggen during the tryout, and Slughorn invites Harry and Hermione to supper, but Harry is spared having to go when Snape refuses to let him out of detention.

Calendar and Dates

After briefly touching on the second week of classes, the remainder of the chapter is devoted to the second Saturday of the term. Based on the dates of previous chapters (outlined in HBP08), this Saturday must be 14 September.